Monday, November 30, 2015


Drugs for all HIV patients not feasible’

Sumitra Deb Roy & Malathy Iyer,TNN | Nov 30, 2015, 12.28 AM IST
MUMBAI: The National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) has made it clear that India is not ready to adhere to WHO's recent recommendation of providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all HIV patients regardless of their disease stage. Till now, in India, only those with a CD4 cell count of less than 350 are started under the ART programme. The NACO, for the first time in over a decade, has decided that the lifesaving antiretroviral drugs will now be offered to even those with a slightly higher CD4 count of 500. CD4 cell count is a crucial marker of how aggressively the virus is destroying the body's immune system.
"We have to look into the evidence of starting ART for all. More than evidence, it is operational feasibility, finances, human resource and how the ART centres will cope with the increased load of more patients," said Dr BB Rewari, national programme officer (ART), NACO. On WHO's recommendations, he said the guidelines are never meant to be adopted immediately. "It is expected to take a year or two," he said.
With the tweaking of CD4 requirement, over 2-3lakh HIV patients, who earlier did not qualify for the free ART therapy, are likely to be brought under its ambit. Currently, only 8 lakh people in the country are on the ART programme, even though the total number of people living with HIV in India is estimated to be 21 lakh.
Physicians firmly believe that the way forward is early initiation of ART in all adults, adolescents and children with HIV. Dr George Oomen, infectious diseases specialist, said there is ample evidence to show that people who have started ART at their highest CD4 count, be it 750 or 1,000, do best.
Head of medicine at Parel's KEM Hospital Dr AR Pazare reiterated, "That is the way world is treating HIV. Why wait for the person to become too sick or for his CD4 count to fall so much?" He said early ART can not only stop progression of disease but also cut down on transmission.
Parallel to the CD4 debate is that of providing oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent acquisition of HIV. Ashok Row Kavi of Humsafar trust, that works with men having sex with men, said PrEP has been in use in India for the last few years, but its inclusion in national programme may not be a reality soon. "There is an ideological debate on whether to provide ART to gay men as a preventive drug or first reach out to all women and kids," he added. Rewari said PrEp is being tried as a pilot study among female sex workers in Chennai, Mysore and Kolkata.
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Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Now, adverse drug reaction monitoring centre at Kasturba Medical College

,TNN | Nov 25, 2015, 06.16 PM IST

READ MORE Union Ministry Of Health And Family Welfare|Manipal|Kasturba Medical College|Department Of Pharmacology|Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Centre
MANIPAL: Union ministry of health and family welfare has designated department of pharmacology, Kasturba Medical College as adverse drug reaction monitoring centre under National Pharmacovigilance Programme. Dr K L Bairy, professor, department of pharmacology is the coordinator of centre primary role of which is to create awareness about adverse drug reactions and educate people to report adverse drug reactions. This joint effort is to promote patient safety.

Pharmacovigilance Program of India was launched with a broad objective to safeguard health of 1.27 billion people of India. Adverse Drug Reactions are reported from all over India to National Co-ordinating Centre housed at Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, Ghaziabad. It works in collaboration with global ADR monitoring centre, Sweden to contribute to global ADRs data base. NCC-PvPI monitors ADRs among Indians and helps regulators take decision for safe use of medicines.

The mission of PvPI is to safeguard the health of the Indian population by ensuring that there is benefit of use of medicines. The purpose of the PvPI is to collate data, analyze it and use the inferences to recommend informed regulatory interventions, besides communicating risks to healthcare professionals and the public. The broadened patient safety scope of pharmaco-vigilance includes the detection of medicines of substandard quality as well as dispensing and administration errors.

Counterfeiting, antimicrobial resistance are the pharmaco-vigilance challenges which need to be addressed. Submission of an ADR report does not have any legal implication on the reporter. The information is meant for better understanding of medicines used in India and to safe guard the health of Indian population. This will also be helpful information to identify faulty medications. Now not only health care professional but patient can also provide the information.

If anyone finds any adverse effects of drugs, they may call toll free number and share your opinion with: Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, Sector 23, Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad. 201002. 

Toll free number 1800-180-3024 (9am-5.30pm weekdays).
comment:- drug reaction help only when govt:office opens!!!!
means if a person gets drug reaction when office is closed he will die sure
no wonder India remains backward








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Tuesday, November 24, 2015

GM mosquitoes that can block malaria created

GM mosquitoes that can block malaria created

GM mosquitoes that can block malaria created

PTI | Nov 24, 2015, 06.41 PM IST
READ MORE University of California|Professor Anthony James|CRISPR method|Cas9 enzyme|Anti-Malaria GM Mosquito
GM mosquitoes that can block malaria created
An Anopheles stephensi mosquito that carries malaria germs obtains a blood meal from a human host through its pointed proboscis. (Handout photo via Reuters)
WASHINGTON: Scientists have created a strain of mosquitoes capable of rapidly introducing malaria-blocking genes into a mosquito population through its progeny, ultimately eliminating the insects' ability to transmit the disease to humans.

Using a groundbreaking gene editing technique, researchers inserted a DNA element into the germ line of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes that resulted in the gene preventing malaria transmission being passed on to 99.5 per cent of offspring. A stephensi is a leading malaria vector in Asia.

"This opens up the real promise that this technique can be adapted for eliminating malaria," said Anthony James, professor at the University of California, San Diego.

The study underlines the growing utility of the CRISPR method, a powerful gene editing tool that allows access to a cell's nucleus to snip DNA to either replace mutated genes or insert new ones.

Researchers packaged anti-malaria genes with a Cas9 enzyme (which can cut DNA) and a guide RNA to create a genetic "cassette" that, when injected into a mosquito embryo, targeted a highly specific spot on the germ line DNA to insert the anti-malaria antibody genes.

To ensure that the element carrying the malaria-blocking antibodies had reached the desired DNA site, the researchers included in the cassette a protein that gave the progeny red fluorescence in the eyes.

As many as 99.5 per cent of offspring exhibited this trait, which James said is an amazing result for such a system that can change inheritable traits.

"This is a significant first step. We know the gene works. The mosquitoes we created are not the final brand, but we know this technology allows us to efficiently create large populations," James added.
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Sunday, November 22, 2015


Natural treatment should be opted over knee replacement'

PTI | Nov 22, 2015, 09.39 PM IST
HYDERABAD: "Joint replacement surgery is for older people and not for young people. Very often youngsters come to us and say my joint is hurting ... should I get a knee replacement done. Knee replacement is ideally done only when people are aged 65 years and above," Joshi, who is also a BCCI consultant, told reporters here.

He was participating in the 8th SISA Live Surgery 2015 Advanced Knee Course organized by Sai Institute of Sports Injury and Arthroscopy here.

The expert said if one goes for knee replacement at an early age, then one may end up having severe problems as the joint has be changed every 10-15 years and it is a difficult process.

"Therefore joint replacement surgery should be delayed as much as possible. And one must use all other forms of treatment which can prolong the life of your natural knee," he said.

Joshi said knee replacement surgery should be only when there are no other options available to save the

Stressing on the need for doing sensible exercise, he said, "wrong kind of exercises can damage knees. Ideally, people should do low impact exercise."

"Instead of doing any high impact exercises, like Zumba dancing, 
 

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 which lot of young people want to do, it is better do activities which place less strain on joints so that you can prolong life of your joints," he said.
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Sunday, November 15, 2015

Prototype of implantable artificial kidney developed

Washington, November 15:  
Scientists have developed a coffee-cup-sized prototype of a surgically implantable artificial kidney that uses a silicon nanofilter to remove toxins, salts and other molecules from the blood.
The advance could be a promising alternative to kidney transplantation or dialysis for people with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), researchers said. “We aim to conduct clinical trials on an implantable, engineered organ in this decade, and we are coordinating our efforts with both the NIH (US National Institutes of Health) and the US Food and Drug Administration,” said Shuvo Roy, from University of California, San Francisco.
Researchers prototyped and tested key components of the coffee-cup-sized device, which mimics functions of the human kidney. One component of the new artificial kidney is a silicon nanofilter to remove toxins, salts, some small molecules, and water from the blood. Bangladesh born Roy’s research team designed the device based on manufacturing methods used in the production of semiconductor electronics and microelectromechanical systems.
The new silicon nanofilters offer several advantages — including more uniform pore size — over filters now used in dialysis machines, according to Roy, who led the research together with William Fissell, a professor at the Vanderbilt University in the US.
The silicon nanofilter is designed to function on blood pressure alone and without a pump or electrical power.
Fissell said the project’s goal is to create a permanent solution to the scarcity problem in organ transplantation.
(This article was published on November 15, 2015) 


Development of an implantable artificial lung: … - ‎Zwischenberger - Cited by 60
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Monday, November 9, 2015

Now a simple eye drop to clear cataracts

For your eyes only: Now a simple eye drop to clear cataracts

  • PTI, Washington
    • | 
  • Updated: Nov 10, 2015 01:16 IST

In cataract, proteins inside the eye, known as crystallins, misfold and clump together. (Shutterstock)

Here’s good news for all those who’ve postponed their cataract operations because of fear. Scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have discovered a new chemical that could be added to eye drops to help clear up cataracts, the leading cause of blindness. Although cataracts can be successfully removed with surgery, this approach is expensive, and most individuals blinded by severe cataracts in developing countries go untreated, researchers said.
Cataracts are primarily a disease of ageing. As is seen in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, a hallmark of the condition is the misfolding and clumping together of crucial proteins. In the case of cataracts, the affected proteins are known as crystallins. They are the major component of fibre cells, which form the eyes’ lenses, and the unique properties of these cells make them particularly susceptible to damage, said Jason Gestwicki, from University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), co-senior author of the research paper.
Read: Eye on the prize: The best solutions to your ocular problems
Read: Eyes eyes baby: Eight foods to keep your peepers shining bright
In the new study, led by Leah N Makley and Kathryn McMenimen, the team exploited a crucial difference between properly folded crystallins and their amyloid forms: amyloids are harder to melt. At the University of Michigan (U-M)’s Centre for Chemical Genomics, the team used a method known as high-throughput differential scanning fluorimetry, or HT-DSF, to apply heat to amyloids while applying thousands of chemical compounds.
The group began with 2,450 compounds, then zeroing in on 12 that are members of a chemical class known as sterols. One of these, known as lanosterol, was shown to reverse cataracts in a June, 2015 paper in the journal Nature, but because lanosterol has limited solubility the group had to inject the compound into the eye for it to exert its effects.
Gestwicki and his group assembled and tested 32 additional sterols, and eventually settled on “compound 29,” as the most likely candidate that would be sufficiently soluble to be used in cataract-dissolving eye drops. In laboratory dish tests, the team confirmed that compound 29 significantly stabilised crystallins and prevented them from forming amyloids. They also found that compound 29 dissolved amyloids that had already formed.
The team next tested compound 29 in an eye-drop formulation in mice carrying mutations that make them predisposed to cataracts. In experiments conducted with Usha P Andley, professor at Washington University in St Louis (WUSTL), they found that the drops partially restored transparency to mouse lenses affected by cataracts.
Similar results were seen when compound 29 eye drops were applied in mice that naturally developed age-related cataracts, and also when the compound was applied to human lens tissue affected by cataracts that had been removed during surgery. The research was published in the journal Science.
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Sunday, November 8, 2015

Nutty news


Just a handful of walnuts can boost male's [nuts]= fertility

Image result for nu(mad) funny

PTI | Nov 9, 2015, 06.42 AM IST
LOS ANGELES: A simple way to boost male fertility, a major problem across the world, could be gobbling a handful of walnuts, researchers say.

"The initial research we conducted regarding walnuts and male fertility found improvement in sperm parameters after adding walnuts to the diet and has set the stage for us to further explore the impacts of walnuts on male fertility and reproductive health," said professor Wendie Robbins of the UCLA School of Nursing.

"New projects are underway that we hope to be able to share with you in the near future," she said. Infertility and subfertility affect a significant proportion of humanity and the burden in men is relatively unknown. Infertility is defined as a "disease of the reproductive system" and results in disability. Commenting on the study in 2012, Robbins said that 75 grams of walnuts consumed daily improved sperm vitality, motility, and morphology in a group of healthy young men between 21-35 years of age.

These findings are of particular interest to the over 70 million couples worldwide who experience sub-fertility.In fact, 30 to 50% of these cases are attributed to the male partner. Walnuts are the only nut that are an excellent source of alpha-linolenic acid.

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Monday, November 2, 2015


India has a more balanced population compared with China

,TNN | Nov 2, 2015, 06.55 AM IST
READ MORE single child rule|Easing child rule|China’s ‘aging’ population
India has a more balanced population compared with China
Though the Chinese programme managed to curb the pace of population growth, over time, it will result in the number of children per women remaining below replacement rate while India fertility rate comes close to an ideal two children per woman rate by 2035.
NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of China's decision to relax the 30-year-old single child rule underlines inherent weaknesses of the policy that will see a sharp decline in women in child bearing age over the next 10 years while the number grows for India, generating more balanced population growth.

Though the Chinese programme managed to curb the pace of population growth, over time, it will result in the number of children per women remaining below replacement rate while India fertility rate comes close to an ideal two children per woman rate by 2035.

The economic and strategic implications of an aging population are clear enough in terms of rising pension and healthcare costs, lower contributions from working generations and declining human workforce for industry and military service and seem to have been the prompt for the Chinese leadership to reverse a long standing decision.

Various studies, including a 2025 India-China projection by Rand Corporation, point to China's population growth turning negative sometime after 2025, while the population pyramid for India presents a more even picture.

The Chinese population pyramid shows the bottom layers shrinking in comparison to the ones above from 2000-2035, indicating a fertility rate that falls below replacement level. On the other hand, because India's fertility rate is above replacement level, the lower layers - or younger segments of population - are larger that older ones.

A narrower base indicates that less number of young people will be increasingly burdened with caring for a larger number of older persons, a scenario that is already visible in Chinese society.

India's short-lived brush with forcible birth control fortuitously ended with the Emergency and, over time, planners discovered the benefits of a population dividend while outbound migration went down. The utility of more evening of the aging population certainly depends on India's capacity to generate economic opportunities on a sustained basis.

For China, which has delivered impressive results in terms of health, education and gender equality, the more jagged shape of population pyramids in the years ahead a worrisome prospect. The bulges will move up the age cohorts, spelling rising burdens for the Chinese state and society.

While China has had a larger share of working age population for over four decades, going forward the number of youth in the under 15 age group will be larger for India. The dependency ratios for India will still see more youths than older persons depending on working age populations by 2035, providing hope of an expanding production base.
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Sunday, November 1, 2015

Tracing back the story of asylums in colonial India

TNN | Nov 1, 2015, 02.09 AM IST

READ MORE IIT-Madras|Biswamoy Pati
CHENNAI: In Great Britain, mental illness was a serious subject of research during the 19th century, with leading scholars coming up with fascinating aspects of asylums in the region. But how about the madness in colonial India? The story of the Cuttack Lunatic Asylum (1860-1900) highlights a host of complexities. "The idea behind establishing the Cuttack asylum was not to treat patients but to confine the 'lunatics' and make life secure for those outside," according to Biswamoy Pati, author and senior fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi. 

"Many problems faced by those who were considered to be 'mad' were ironically conditioned by the presence and expansion of the colonies and its internal collaborators over the 19th century," said Pati, who was speaking on "Confining 'lunatics': the Cuttack Asylum" at a seminar conducted by the department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT-Madras on Saturday. 

Focusing on a micro-study about the Cuttack lunatic asylum, Pati explored certain dimensions that are intrinsically linked with the context and are rooted in the economic and social history of the region. "Some incidents that took place inside the asylum show how by criminalizing 'insanity', colonialism had succeeded in brutalizing an inmate who had never acted violently," he said. 

The Cuttack Lunatic Asylum closed down in the context of the partition of Bengal. "In March 1906, 37 inmates (36 males and one female) of this asylum were shifted to the Berhampore Asylum. The most striking aspect of this asylum's existence demonstrates how colonization itself was entrapped by the idea of 'unchanging east' that it had invented. The virtually unchanging existence of the Cuttack asylum served to reinforce this myth," he said. 

The logic of criminality associated with the insane and the manner in which the poor were located in the health programmes were atrocious. "Nothing seems to have been learnt from the past experiences. Today, the Indian ruling classes are busy dismantling the public health system that had developed in post-colonial India, even as they re-enact the moribund policies of the colonial ruling classes," said Pati.
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